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From the 27th of December 2005 passengers of internal air flights flying from Sheremetievo will have the chance to register virtually without leaving Moscow. As the press-service of the airport informed, it is possible to go through the registration procedure, receive a landing card and check in the luggage at Savelovskiy train station. Starting from December 2004 it become possible to get to Sheremetievo by suburban electric train (although, with a change by bus). At some point the administration of the airport plans to open a registration for international flights at the station as well. Nevertheless, in spite of the advantages of this service, not many passengers use them yet. For example, in the press-service of Domodedovo the percentage of such tourists is 25% considering the fact that the registration desks on Paveletskiy train station were opened back in 2002, at the same time as launching an electric train to the airport.
Representatives of travel agencies, interviewed by a BANKO correspondent, think that this can be partly explained by passengers’ distrust. For example, according to Margarita Zaruba, general director of ‘Irigma tours’, the service is not checked yet, so people fear technical malfunctions, which may arise at the desk of distanced registration. As Mrs. Zaruba says, in agencies there is a practice in general not to mention the possibility of registrations at a station: ‘If a client is late for a flight, they will come with their claims to the travel firm, rather than the airport’. Mikhail Farber (‘Arpha’ company) has also pointed out certain conservatism of tourists.
However, apart from subjective reasons for low appearance at desks of distanced registration there are also objective reasons. For many people, who prefer getting to airports by taxi or cars, such a service is not useful. Although, considering the capacity of Leningradskoe motorway, it might be assumed that in future the relevance and demand for such service among Sheremetievo passengers will be high.
